Meet The Middle East's Expat Billionaires

These nine expatriate billionaires are not of Arab descent but call the Middle East home. Combined, they are worth $35.6 billion, according to the Forbes World’s Billionaires list 2023. All listees are based in the U.A.E.

- JAMILA GANDHI

• Pavel Durov
Net worth 2023: $11.5 billion
Change since 2022: -$3.6 billion
Citizenship: U.A.E.• Age: 38
Source of wealth: Technology

At 38, Pavel Durov is the youngest among the nine Middle East expat billionaires and the only individual to credit his fortune to technology. With an estimated net worth of $11.5 billion, Durov is not only the richest expat billionaire in the Middle East, but his riches also eclipse that of the world’s richest Arab, Egypt’s Nassef Sawiris, worth $7.4 billion.

The self-made billionaire hails from Russia and is the founder and owner of the free-to-use messaging app Telegram, which has over 700 million monthly active users worldwide. He left Russia after he refused to cooperate with the Russian secret service and provide encrypted data of his first social network users. Durov, who became a French citizen in 2021, moved himself and Telegram to Dubai in 2017.

• M.A. Yusuff Ali 
Net worth 2023: $5.3 billion
Change since 2022: -$100 million
Citizenship: India • Age: 67
Source of wealth: Retail